To be or Not to be Seen? Paradox of Recognition among Trans Men in Sri Lanka

Year 2021, Issue: 15, 66 - 99, 30.05.2021

Kaushalya Ariyarathne

Abstract

This article is a part of a broader study titled ‘transgender identities in contemporary Sri Lanka’. It attempts to identify a framework based on contemporary Sri Lankan trans men’s lived experiences, to analyse and interpret gender, embodiment, social relationships and identities. The article discusses how socially accepted normative behaviours of gender contribute to negotiate their identities. At the same time, the masculinities demanded by capitalist forms of production in the modern world also offer possible avenues for them to explore and understand their bodies. Further, it argues that the assistance offered by the post-war Sri Lankan state for a person to move from one binary to another, is part of the long-term project of the nation state. Identifying trans men as a ‘category’ of gender, the State and civil society in Sri Lanka, (mis)represents and acts to homogenise and de-politicise their everyday lives. Therefore, while their identities are ‘imposed’ by nationalist and neoliberal discourses, they are constantly narrated, challenged and re-negotiated through paradox of recognition, visibility and non-visibility

Keywords

Gender, Trans men, Sri Lanka, Masculinities

Görünmek ya da Görünmemek? Sri Lanka’da Trans Erkekler Arasında Tanınma Paradoksu

Abstract

Bu makale “Günümüz Sri Lanka’sında Transgender Kimlikler” başlıklı daha kapsamlı bir çalışmanın bir parçasını oluşturmaktadır. Bu makale, toplumsal cinsiyet, bedensellik, toplumsal ilişkiler ve kimlikleri analiz etmek ve anlamlandırmak amacıyla, günümüz Sri Lanka’sında trans erkeklerin gündelik yaşam deneyimleri temelinde bir çerçeve tanımlama denemesinde bulunmaktadır. Makale toplumsal kabul gören normatif cinsiyet davranışlarının trans erkeklerin kimliklerini müzakere etmelerinde hangi şekilde pay sahibi olduğunu tartışmaktadır. Aynı zamanda modern dünyada kapitalist üretim biçimlerinin gerektirdiği erkeklikler de trans erkeklere bedenlerini keşfetmek ve anlamak için olası mecralar sunmaktadır. Makale ayrıca savaş sonrası Sri Lanka devleti tarafından kişiye bir ikili cinsiyetten diğerine geçmesi için sağlanan desteğin uzun erimli ulus-devlet projesinin bir parçası olduğunu savunmaktadır. Sri Lanka’da devlet ve sivil toplum trans erkekleri bir toplumsal cinsiyet “kategorisi” olarak tanımlayarak onların gündelik hayatını (yanlış) temsil etmekte, homojen hale getirmekte ve depolitize etmektedir. Bu nedenle, her ne kadar kimlikleri ulusal ve neoliberal söylemler tarafından empoze edilse de, bunlar devamlı olarak, tanınma, görünürlük ve görünmezlik paradoksu üzerinden, hikayelendirilmekte, meydan okumaya tabi tutulmakta ve yeniden müzakere edilmektedir.

Keywords

Toplumsal cinsiyet, Trans erkekler, Sri Lanka, Erkeklikler

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